Class Struggle A Case Study Of Festus Iyayi Violence And Animata Sow Falls The Beggers Strike
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Class Struggle A Case Study Of Festus Iyayi Violence And Animata Sow Falls The Beggers Strike
The concept of class struggle refers to the ongoing battle between the existing strata in every society. The goal of this academic research is to investigate the meaning and significance of class struggle in the context of the chosen texts.
This study’s theoretical basis is Marxist-Leninist theory, which may be summarised as the exploited’s reaction to get rid of exploitation and the exploiters. The several styles employed by the duo of Iyayi and Falls are described. Class conflict is viewed as a necessary means of alleviating societal pressures caused by inequality and injustice.
Chapter one
1.1 Introduction
The concept of class struggle refers to a perpetual fight between the existing layers in society. The themes of class struggle were described in Animata Sow Fall’s The Beggars’ Strike and Festus Iyayi’s Violence.
Class struggle becomes a necessity in any society with a big difference between the ‘haves’ and the ‘have nots’. This scholarly study investigates the extent to which Animata and Iyayi used the idea of class conflict in their novels The Beggars’ Strike and Violence, respectively.
1.2 Background.
Karl Marx wrote to Friedrich Engels in 1882: “You know very well where we found our idea of class struggle; we found it in the work of the French historians who discussed the race struggle.” Class conflict predates Karl Marx; one could confidently claim that it describes the history of all human civilisations.
Social classes are frequently classified as upper, middle, or lower based on income, wealth, or estate. However, in a capitalist system, the Marxist concept of class is predicated on control over the means of production. Karl Marx defines two major classes:
§ Proletarian (Labour)
§ Bourgeoisie (capitalist)
The Proletariat (labour) earns a living directly from their labour, whereas the Bourgeoisie controls the means of production, exploiting the proletariat and profiting from the surplus value of cheap labour. This may be interpreted as a type of neocolonialism, in which work is exploited to achieve economic and sociopolitical supremacy.
A most horrible type of Apartheid in postcolonial Africa, perpetrated by Africans against other Africans. The masses, burdened with terrible poverty and hunger, will inevitably rebel against oppression. The resulting conflict, while frequently violent, is not uncommon to be nonviolent.
In the selected works, forms of class struggle include industrial strike activities, protests, rallies, pilferage, sabotage, and so on. Class conflict in Africa is strongly tied with corruption and injustice. Class conflict is viewed as necessary in an unjust society when wealth is unequally distributed and the rule of law is biassed.
It becomes the only viable choice for the people to compete for economic and social relevance. Class struggle is a daring attempt to transform capitalism into a more fair system of governance, resulting in a truly egalitarian, economically sustainable, and politically stable nation. Class struggle is a daring step towards creating a real utopian society, the ultimate Marxist phantom.
1.3 Aim of Study
This study is a modest attempt to shed light on the concept of class struggle in Africa. Based on the writings of two prominent proletarian writers, Animata Sow fall and Festus Iyayi, in their works – The Beggars’ Strike and Violence, the following objectives were identified:
§ Define and describe class idea.
§ Identify and describe the sorts of classes in selected texts.
§ Definition of class struggle:
§ Compare and contrast francophone and Anglophone African societies in terms of class and conflict.
§ Identifying the advantages and disadvantages of class strife.
§ Addressing class conflict in Africa with practical solutions.
§ Providing trustworthy responses to research questions established at the start of the project.
1.4 SCOPE OF THE STUDY
This study focusses on Africa, with Senegal and Nigeria serving as case studies, as portrayed by Animata and Iyayi in The Beggars’ Strike and Violence, respectively.
This study looks into how understudied works reveal the existence of class struggle as well as other sub-themes such as oppression and negritude in francophone and Anglophone African contexts.
The choice of works based on Senegal and Nigeria is inspired by the fact that the two countries provide a fair representation of West Africa from both the Francophone and Anglophone perspectives. This is critical since it is almost probably impossible to analyse works from all throughout Africa given time and resource restrictions.
1.5 Justification of Study
This research is significant not only because it provides a solid source of information for future scholars on class struggle, but also because it is useful in assessing democratic values in Africa. Understanding the role of class struggle in society would help Africa’s emerging democracy and promote good governance.
This research is also a celebration of the great African writers, Animata Sowfall and Festus Iyayi, for their artistic inventiveness and skill.
1.6 Methodology and Theory
This study is both qualitative and descriptive, including a thematic analysis of the texts. The issues of class conflict, as well as associated sub-themes such as poverty, rule of law, and democracy, were thoroughly examined.
This study is founded on the Marxist-Leninist theory of society, which can be summarised as follows: the exploiters oppress the exploited, while the exploited try to escape both exploitation and the exploiters.
The sample frame is Senegal and Nigeria, which were the settings of the selected works. This research also used demographic analysis as well as a basic overview of the
Characters and artistic styles used by the authors.
1.6.1 Description of Study Area
SENEGAL
Senegal is a former French colony in West Africa whose capital is Dakar. The incumbent president, Abdoulaye Wade, was re-elected in March 2007.
Mali covers an area of 76000 square miles and is bordered by Mauritania to the north, Guinea and Guinea-Bissau to the south, the Atlantic Ocean to the west, and the Atlantic Ocean to the east.Senegal established an independent nation on August 20, 1960, with the famed Leopold Sedar Senghor serving as its first president.
Senegal’s previous unicameral system was abandoned in 2007, and the country now has a bicameral parliament made up of the National Assembly and the Senate. Senegal is divided into 14 divisions, each led by a local administrator nominated and answerable to the president.
Power is extremely centralised, which frequently leads to criticism of Senegalese political structure. State and religion are not clearly defined, and being a predominantly Islamic country, leaders of Islamic groups known as marabouts frequently play prominent roles in politics.
Senegal has a diverse ethnic population, and, like with most West African countries, numerous languages are commonly spoken. The Wolof are Senegal’s largest single ethnic group, accounting for 43%.
The Fula and Toucouleur (also known as Halpulaar’en, literally “Pulaar-speakers”) are the second largest group, accounting for 24%, followed by the Serer (15%), Lebou (10%), Jola (4%), Mandinka (3%), Maures or Naarkajors, Soninke, Bassari, and many smaller communities (9%).
Food processing, mining, cement, artificial fertiliser, chemicals, textiles, imported petroleum refining, and tourism are among the major businesses. Exports consist of fish, chemicals, cotton, textiles, groundnuts, and calcium phosphate.
Senegal’s population is over 12.5 million.
Total GDP is $13.472 billion, with a per capita of $1,026 (2010 estimate).
Life expectancy: 55.6 years (2008).
2010 Mo Ibrahim Index of Governance, No.14 with a score of 56%.
NIGERIA
The country is located in West Africa, covering 356,667 square miles and sharing land boundaries with the Republic of Benin in the west, Chad and Cameroon in the east, and Niger in the north. Its southern coast borders the Gulf of Guinea in the Atlantic Ocean.
Nigeria’s three largest and most prominent ethnic groupings are Hausa, Igbo, and Yoruba. In terms of religion, Nigeria is nearly split 50/50 between Muslims and Christians, with a small minority practicing traditional religion.
The capital city is Abuja. The current president is Goodluck Jonathan. Nigeria, a former British territory, achieved independent on October 1, 1960.
The president’s power is limited by a Senate and a House of Representatives, which combine to form the National Assembly, a bicameral parliament. The Senate has 109 senators, three from each state and one from the capital region of Abuja, who are elected to four-year terms by popular vote.
The House has 360 seats, with the number of representatives allocated to each state based on population. Nigeria’s economy is primarily dependent on petroleum.
Population is approximately 152 million (2010 estimate).
Total (nominal) GDP is $173.428 billion, with a per capita of $1,142.
The life expectancy is 47 years.
2010 Mo Ibrahim Index of Governance No. 37, with a score of 43%
1.6.2 Marxist-Leninist Theory of Society
The term Marxism-Leninism refers to the ideology developed by Vladimir Lenin based on Karl Marx’s ideas. Marxism-Leninism differs from other schools of thought in two major ways.
First, Lenin’s supporters often regard his contributions to the body of Marxism as a practical extension of Marx’s original theoretical contributions from the nineteenth century. Lenin referred to this period as the Imperialism Era.
Stalin’s words: “Leninism grew up and took shape under the conditions of imperialism, when the contradictions of capitalism had reached an extreme point, when the proletarian revolution had become an immediate practical question, when the old period of preparation of the working class for revolution had arrived at and passed into a new period, that of direct assault on capitalism”
The most essential result of a Leninist-style theory of imperialism is the strategic need for workers in industrialised countries to band up with oppressed populations within their own countries and colonies overseas to defeat capitalism.
This is the basis of the phrase, which demonstrates Lenin’s belief that all oppressed people, not only the proletariat, are the sole revolutionary power, as is conventional in Marxism; “Workers and Oppressed Peoples of the World, Unite!”
Second, Marxism-Leninism is distinguished by its approach to organisational issues. Lenin considered that the typical form of the Social Democratic parties at the time
which was a loose, multitendency organisation, was insufficient for destroying the Tsarist authority in Russia. He envisaged a corps of professional revolutionaries who would discipline themselves according to the Democratic Centralism concept.
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